So this is a post that I’ve been meaning to do for a while so... here it goes. I’ll try to go over every letter or combination of letters in the Catalan alphabet explaining their possible pronunciations at every step. All the pronunciations are taken from the Central Catalan dialect, aka the on from Barcelona (which is also the one I speak).
Also, I’ll be focusing on phonemic differences. That means that while it’s true that b is pronounced differently in banyera (bathing tub) and in acabar (to finish), I will not count them as two different sounds as they are mere allophones (variations of a same sound).
Before the rest of letters: /k/
Gorg (small stream of water)
Before another vowel: /gw/
Always: /gw/ (only appears befor e and i)
Before a vowel: /i/ or /j/*
Psicologia (i) (psychology)
*It must be at the start of a word or forming a 3 vowel sequence
* You’ll find some people say that l·l is actually /lː/. I call that bullshit
In “gue”, “gui”, “que” and “qui”: /∅/ (silent) (see gu and qu)
In “güe”, “güi”, “qüe” and “qüi”: /w/ (see gü and qü)
*Only in Valencian, Balearic and Algherese
After stressed, final i in cultisms: /ks/*
*Only 5 words: crucifix, afix, infix, prolix and sufix